Reading about doing work that seems to erase itself in this essay gave me pause. The author explains "reproductive labor"
..Federici is one of a cohort of thinkers who have, for decades, critiqued the way capitalist societies fail to acknowledge or support what she calls “reproductive labor.” She uses this term not simply to refer to having children and raising them; it indicates all the work we do that is sustaining — keeping ourselves and others around us well, fed, safe, clean, cared for, thriving. It’s weeding your garden or making breakfast or helping your elderly grandmother bathe — work that you have to do over and over again, work that seems to erase itself. It is essential work that our economy tends not to acknowledge or compensate.
All stay at home mothers I have ever known have performed such labor all their lives, every day. Yet it was common to ask "What do you do all day? Don't you get bored staying at home?" I saw these women trying to explain what it is that they did that was of personal and societal value. Many seemed embarrassed that they could not cite accomplishments that converted into paychecks. A very few women had the guts to say the work they do behind the scenes enables their high-achieving spouse to have a career and not worry about mundane domestic stuff including child-rearing. To that end, what she did was equal to what her very successful husband did - there was no difference whatsoever. I remember the first time I heard a woman my mother's age say this to a younger "career woman". She was a family friend and known to be feisty. I recall feeling proud of her for being able to articulate her value so clearly. She ran a tight ship - the home was picture perfect, the kids were well-mannered and pushed to do well in school, the family ran like a well-oiled machine and she made it look effortless. It made the newly minted career woman look incompetent.
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